Teacher Retirement System of Texas Increases Stake in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) by 74.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,093 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,087 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.78% of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. worth $4,637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 127.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,442 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $260,000. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $280,000. Finally, Centiva Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $319,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Trading Up 0.4 %

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. stock opened at $39.56 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $37.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.49. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.11 and a 12-month high of $48.20. The stock has a market cap of $663.02 million, a P/E ratio of 22.35 and a beta of 0.15.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62. The business had revenue of $145.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $137.77 million. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. had a net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 9.49%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. This is an increase from Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 54.24%.

About Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.

Sturm, Ruger & Co, Inc engages in the business of designing, manufacturing, and selling firearms to domestic customers. It operates through the Firearms and Castings segments. The Firearms segment focuses on manufacturing and selling rifles, pistols, and revolvers principally to a number of federally licensed, independent wholesale distributors.